For Immediate Release<\/p>\n
February 19, 2013<\/p>\n
Contacts:
\nNadia Steinzor, Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project, 202-887-1872, ext. 109
\nTracy Carluccio, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, 215-692-2329
\nSteve Hvozdovich, Clean Water Action, 412-445-9675
\nMelissa Troutman, Mountain Watershed Association, 724-455-4200
\nErika Staaf, PennEnvironment, 412-491-4801
\nIris Marie Bloom, Protecting Our Waters, 215-840-6489
\nKaren Feridun, Berks Gas Truth, 610-678-7726<\/p>\n
Environmental and Citizens Groups take DEP Water Testing Concerns to House Democratic Policy Committee<\/p>\n
Washington, PA \u2013State Representative Jesse White is hosting a House Democratic Policy Committee Hearing in Washington County today to examine the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection\u2019s (PA DEP) policies and procedures related to air and water quality testing on landowners\u2019 and leaseholders\u2019 properties in Pennsylvania.
\n“One way or another, DEP is going to have to disclose what is now being hidden–including full well water test results, quality control data, and the procedures and policies that drive their process of determining if drilling has polluted a resident’s well. This hearing is shining a spotlight on these issues in an attempt to open up DEP’s closed door policies regarding how water pollution from gas is investigated, analyzed and reported. We applaud and support Rep. White’s efforts on behalf of the public’s health and safety,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network.
\nA coalition of environmental organizations has been working over the past months to obtain answers from DEP regarding questions and concerns they and the public have about this issue. In November, the coalition sent a letter to Governor Tom Corbett and Secretary Michael Krancer criticizing the PA DEP\u2019s water testing and notification policies as outdated, lacking transparency, and inadequate to protect residents and drinking water from pollution caused by gas drilling. The coalition called for immediate reform of PA DEP\u2019s procedures and for all DEP water test data to be reported to households where testing has occurred but where only a fraction of the test results were reported.
\nFollowing Secretary Krancer\u2019s reply to the letter, a meeting to discuss these issues was scheduled for January 24th between representatives of the signatory organizations and the PA DEP\u2019s Oil and Gas Division and Bureau of Laboratories. However, PA DEP abruptly cancelled the meeting they initiated prompting the coalition to send another letter to Secretary Krancer, expressing their dissatisfaction with PA DEP\u2019s decision and requesting a response to a submitted list of pressing questions which the public needs answers to. It is still not clear whether DEP will respond to the submitted questions or reschedule the meeting with all the signatory organizations.
\n“The information obtained so far raises grave concerns about whether DEP is doing its job in protecting homeowners. How can a homeowner make a judgment whether his water is safe to drink If only partial lab test results are being provided?” said Thomas Au, Conservation Chair for Pennsylvania Sierra Club.
\nSeveral representatives from the coalition will be appearing before the committee to testify about their recent interaction with DEP, discuss findings from research they have done around water testing and to share their questions and concerns regarding DEP\u2019s water testing and reporting policies and related issues relevant to the protection of health and the environment.
\n\u201cI look forward to recounting our coalition\u2019s situation to the committee because I believe it speaks to a broader problem of how DEP under this administration interacts with residents and addresses inquires toward their policies and procedures,\u201d said Steve Hvozdovich, Marcellus Shale Policy Associate, Clean Water Action.
\n\u201cOur state is already punctured with so many cases of water, air, land, animal, and human health pollution and suffering \u2013 and citizens continually come to organizations like ours for help because DEP has, they feel, completely abandoned them and ignored their problems,\u201d said Melissa Troutman, Outreach Coordinator, Mountain Watershed Association. \u201cAfter two years of investigating public files at DEP, I look forward to sharing my appalling findings with the committee about shale gas drilling violations that have been overlooked, un-remediated, and un-fined and how current policies and procedures allow for this, in the state that gets 80% of its drinking water from forested watersheds.\u201d
\n\u201cI commend the House Democratic Policy Committee for holding a hearing on a subject of great importance to many Pennsylvania residents; nothing is more important to those living on the frontlines of Marcellus Shale development than health and safety,\u201d said Nadia Steinzor, Eastern Program Coordinator for Earthworks\u2019 Oil & Gas Accountability Project. \u201cThere are concrete steps that DEP can take to ensure reliable water and air testing, transparency, and industry accountability\u2014the public deserves nothing less.\u201d
\nIt was recently revealed that DEP Secretary Michael Krancer declined an invitation to attend the Policy Committee hearing, noting that DEP\u2019s attention is not focused on wasting time on \u201cpolitical theater\u201d and that he is willing to attend legislative hearings and other meetings if they are \u201cproductive and professional.\u201d
\n“Secretary Krancer has expressed his peculiar sensitivity to meeting with environmental organizations and legislators in a manner that is unbefitting of a public servant. Using loaded language like “intemperate” and “political theater” to make assumptions about those working in the public interest is hardly “productive and professional”; serving the public with transparency is,” says Karen Feridun, founder of Berks Gas Truth.
\nThe coalition of organizations continue pursuing new avenues to address this issue in order to ensure the public has access to all information they need related to their health and safety. The opportunity to appear before the House Democratic Policy Committee is a good first step in that pursuit.
\n\u201cWe must take the knowledge gained today and apply it to action,\u201d said Erika Staaf of PennEnvironment. \u201cThis can\u2019t be the end of the line for this critical issue. Rather, it must be the first step toward making real, measurable policy change that creates more transparency and better oversight to provide clean drinking water, air and a safe environment for Pennsylvania residents.\u201d
\n“Water is life. We pay our state environmental regulators to protect life, which includes protecting water as a bottom line responsibility,\u201d said Iris Marie Bloom, Director, Protecting Our Waters \u201cTo withhold information about contaminants in drinking water, and about water testing procedures, is an absolute violation of DEP’s mission. We need a sea change at PA DEP.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For Immediate Release February 19, 2013 Contacts: Nadia Steinzor, Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project, 202-887-1872, ext. 109 Tracy Carluccio, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, 215-692-2329 Steve<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gastruth.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gastruth.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gastruth.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gastruth.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gastruth.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1105"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gastruth.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1109,"href":"https:\/\/gastruth.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions\/1109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gastruth.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gastruth.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gastruth.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}